LECTURE vr. 291 



Those animals which cannot hunt their 

 prey, and would become victims of its re- 

 sistance, can, by such means, instantly 

 deprive it of power, and speedily of life. 

 Such animals also as depend upon casualty 

 for support, are generally formed to sustain 

 long abstinence without that decline of 

 power which occurs in others, and for 

 the occasional digestion of enormous quan- 

 tities of food. It is, however, but a small 

 part of the highly interesting subject, of 

 the means by which various animals ob- 

 tain their sustenance, that falls within the 

 province of the Comparative Anatomist 

 to discuss ; it is that part only which relates 

 to structure, the rest belonging to the Na- 

 tural Historian. The proboscis of animals 

 is to be considered as an instrument, and 

 that of the elephant is here shown. 



In this department of his Museum, Mr. 

 Hunter also displays the electrical organs 

 of the torpedo and gymnotus, his account 

 of which is published in the Philosophical 

 Transactions. I have already suggested in 

 the first lectures, what reflections they pro- 



u 2 



